Grilled cheese & tomato soup sandwiches

This recipe was created exclusively for Treehugger's Green Wine Guide by The Tomato Tart. It pairs perfectly with a crisp summer white. Look for something with minerals and not much fruit so the cheese's nuttier flavors can shine through.

I believe that tomatoes are the ultimate taste of summer. They are bright in every way, color, smell, and their sweet tart taste as they flood your palate with their ripe juices. I first fell in love with them through tomato soup, especially when paired with a grilled cheese sandwich (Yum!), a childhood staple. After attending Laura Werlin's grilled cheese and wine pairing at Pebble Beach Food and Wine, I've been kicking around an idea...what if the tomato soup and the grilled cheese were all rolled into one. Finally, it's happened, I want you to meet that sandwich.

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat oven to 400º degrees.

2. Liberally salt tomatoes and line up so that they are not touching. Allow to sweat while oven heats up, gently blot with paper towel before placing in oven. This removes excess moisture.

3. Bake in oven for 15 minutes. Then remove and place on a cooling rack.

4. While tomatoes are baking, grate cheese, and chop garlic.

5. Butter the outside of the bread slices with about 1 teaspoon of butter on each slice, then gently press in to that about one teaspoon of parmesan. Sprinkle with fresh cracked pepper and press some more.

6. Flip the bread and butter the insides of the slices, again with about 1 teaspoon per slice.

7. Spread stone ground mustard on one slice of the bread and add fresh ground pepper.

8. On the other slice, spread your chopped garlic.

9. Sprinkle one slice with about a tablespoon of parmesan cheese and the other with two tablespoons of comte.

10. On the parmesan side of the sandwich, add lots of roasted tomatoes.

11. In a frying pan on medium-high heat, add a very small amount of grapeseed oil to a hot pan. Add the sandwich and cook for about 3 minutes on each side. Cut in half (triangles of course) and enjoy with that glass of wine!